


Genocide [HIATUS]

by Pills



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Gore, Gen, Gun Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 06:08:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pills/pseuds/Pills
Summary: [Apologies, but this will likely never be finished.  This is typical of me.]After Toue’s attempt to take over Midorijima fails, he decides to turn to biological warfare and turns the island into a zombie-infested apocalyptic wasteland.  The boys and the rest end up having to take things into their own hands and try to eradicate the virus.  A fight against time, hopefully no one they love will be infected.---------------------All the AllMates are human, except partially Ren, who retained his Rhyme form (because I'm a whore for it and it has battle capabilities), and since he's still technically an AllMate, he still acts as Aoba's AllMate (i.e. send/receive messages, directions, etc).---------------------There will be no smut in this AU, and no relationships.  Basically, this is a BAMFs AU which I hope to have fun with, contrary to my typical smut-infested works.  Also, Tae knows how to shoot and be a BAMF.  Stay tuned.





	1. Now

It’s been exactly 2 years since Toue released the _Kurushimimasu_ virus[1], and the island lies in disarray. Shops have been destroyed and plundered and countless people are now zombies, including those in Platinum Jail, where it was initially released.  Aoba Seragaki and his grandmother Tae took up refuge in Haga’s shop, Junk Shop Heibon.  In the initial outbreak, and with Noiz’s help, Ren was able to retain his Rhyme form in the real world.  His tall stature and long cloak made Aoba’s heart flutter, as he always had a certain affection for his Rhyme form, but that was besides the point.  Joining them in Haga’s shop was Clara, a 5’ 4” blonde woman who had a stuck-up personality, but was quite gifted with biomedical technology.  Yoshie-san had adopted her when she was young, and the two were inseparable ever since.  Also joining them were the three Kuniyashi brats, Mio, Nao, and Kio.  When the outbreak first broke out of Platinum Jail, the trio was inside Heibon and were stuck inside with Haga, where he took initiative and taught them about firearms.  Despite being young, they realized the magnitude of the situation and, not wanting to die so young, decided to stop acting like brats and take on responsibility for their lives.  Clear, with nowhere to go, joined the rest at Heibon, and, being an android himself, already had battle capabilities which he never used before, but now he was going to.  Due to the outbreak, Tae taught Aoba about firearms and aim precision, teaching him to throw poison knives and grenades while staying with Haga and the gang.

                Mink and his brother Tori remained in their Scratch hideout, with Tori being just as tall as Mink and with pink hair and an eyepatch.  Both loved to smoke and with the initial outbreak, they plundered as much of their cigars and pipe tobacco as they could.  The Scratch members, although less than before the virus spread, still remained banded together.  With their prior jailbird experience, they were at the most advantage in the outbreak, and with Mink and Tori’s leadership, the remaining members of Scratch stayed safe.

                Koujaku, his cousin Beni, and the remaining Benishigure members had to learn to use firearms as well as their swords.  Mizuki invited them to the Black Needle, where they now consider their hideout to be, as the tattoo shop and bar always remained fortified with its thick glass and walls, perfect against zombies.  And since there was alcohol, they could construct Molotov cocktails and other fire-based weapons and send it to the other groups when needed.

                Noiz had acquired a “friend” named Midori, and together with Ruff Rabbit, worked on information-gathering technology for the rest of the groups.  Virus, Trip, Welter, Hersha, and the remaining Morphine members would often act as couriers and go between the isolated groups, as no one knew where Morphine’s base was, nor did anyone want to know. 

Akushima remained his loud ass self and would stick around Ryuuhou.  Together they’d pillage whatever they could and sell it to whoever needed it for a price.  Akushima retained his goddamn megaphone gun and Ryuuhou still acted like smoke, much like Virus, Trip, Welter, and Hersha, going wherever he pleased and did whatever he wanted, with Akushima often inviting him to pillage and plunder whatever shops they could, or even other bases.


	2. Brother, We're Making Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren receives word from Sei and urges Aoba to get everyone together to discuss a search-and-rescue plan, as Sei doesn't know where he is.  
> SONG FOR ACCOMPANIMENT: Sand Planet by HACHI Ft. Hatsune Miku  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn8Vs_kKQMc

“Aoba, we need to get everyone together,” Ren still acted like an AllMate, despite being a 6’ 1” cloaked man.  Aoba, in the middle of cleaning his grenade launcher, looked up at the tall dark-haired figure questioningly.

“I have received word about your brother.”  Ren, always short of words, but he was efficient and didn’t waste time on unnecessary things.  But Aoba had nearly forgotten about his brother, Sei, since the outbreak.  He was always in the back of his mind, but his survival always came first, much to his anger.  Aoba set aside the grenade launcher carefully and stood up to look at Ren face to face.

“Where shall we meet?  Is there even a place large enough for us all to fit inside?”  Aoba knew how large the network of relations was, and getting everyone together seemed difficult, to say the least.  Ren nodded.

“In the secret path to Platinum Jail.”  Aoba had nearly forgotten about that secret path from so long ago when Toue was trying to take over Midorijima with Sei and the Alphas.  Aoba nodded.

“Alright, sounds good.  But before I have you send out the message, tell me what you know.”  His voice was calm after years of having to control his emotions around the young Kuniyashi siblings and remain a good example for the others around him.  Ren looked down at him, peering at him through his headband that covered his eyes.

“Sei has escaped from Toue and wishes to join our faction.  He doesn’t quite know where he is, but I feel that with everyone’s help, we can find him and keep him safe from Toue.  It is unsure if Toue is going to keep using Sei’s eyes for his plans.”  Aoba nodded at his explanation when Nao came running up to him.

“Aoba, Aoba!  Is someone going to join us?”  Despite having taken on tremendous responsibility for his age, the young mouse-hooded boy overheard Ren and Aoba’s conversation.  Aoba gave an awkward grin and patted the mouse hood of the boy.  
“We’ll see what happens first.  We need to get everyone together in the secret path to Platinum Jail to meet.  Do you think you and your siblings can get a hold of Virus and his gang to spread the word?”  Nao nodded and made his way to the door after grabbing a Glock M1911 and a belt of bullets.  He motioned for his siblings to do the same and they stepped out the door and split up, coils up to keep track of each other.

“Aoba, what’s going on?”  Tae saw the trio run off and couldn’t help but question her grandson.

“Granny, Sei escaped and is trying to find us.”  With the mention of his name, Tae’s eyes went wide and showed complicated emotions in the teal depths.  Knowing she was too old for such agile message routes, she merely sat with Haga and Yoshie in the background to keep the young ones in check.  “Ren was sent a message from Sei himself.”  Tae looked up at Ren.  Although she couldn’t see his eyes, she’d known him long enough to know he could not and would not lie, especially when it came to Aoba’s twin brother.

“Idiot grandchild…” was all she said as she shuffled away to the backroom where Haga and Yoshie were.

It was about 3 PM since Aoba had sent word out 3 hours ago about Sei’s reappearance.  The Kuniyashi siblings managed to make it back to Heibon safely, with a response from Morphine.  As usual, the not-twins were eager to see how Sei was doing.  The rest of the groups received word and sent back their agreement.  Haga sent out the map from each of the hideout’s location to the secret path.  They were due to meet at 5 PM, in 2 hours.  Aoba suggested that only him, Ren, Clear, and Clara should head out to the agreed meeting place, much to the trio’s annoyance, but Haga, Tae, and Yoshie comforted them that this mission was for the adults of the group.  With that, the four of them grabbed their equipment, waved goodbye and farewells to the remaining members, and headed out into the ruined wasteland.

Most of the buildings that weren’t shops were levelled, leaving crumbling stone and metalwork in its wake.  There was a thick layer of dust everywhere, and they put on their masks.  It seems Clear’s gas mask came in handy after all.  Aoba had to exchange his bright blue clothes for a more earthy and plain wardrobe, as did everyone else.  Aoba placed his steampunk respirator over his mouth and nose, and Clara placed a monochrome psychedelic striped bandana mask over her own face, as well as some spiked white goggles.  Ren didn’t need a mask, as he already had his eyes covered and since he was an AllMate, didn’t exactly breathe the same way as humans do, so the pollutants weren’t an issue for him.

They made their way over rubble and crumbled former shops and buildings, adjusting their guns on their backs and the various handheld weapons they carried, such as knives, Molotov, and grenades.  Aoba’s cape billowed in the wind and his black leather gloves held in a tight fist, the group made their way to the path, mindful of the zombies and cutting them down where needed if they got too close.

“Aoba, we’re here.”  Ren looked up at the even more battered construction signs that were barely recognizable in the current state of the island.

“Hmph, seems no prettier than the rest of the place.”  Clara’s high-pitched voice rang through the dust and from behind her mask.

“You can bet on that.  Ever since that virus spread, this place was once so beautiful…”

“Aoba, this is no time to reminisce.  We need to get inside,” Ren’s down-to-Earth authority rang through the dust clearly, breaking Aoba’s fond memories of what once was.

“Aoba-san!”

“A-oba!  Yo!”

“Aaaaobaa.”

“Aoba.”

                Virus, Trip, Hersha, and Welter made it to the scene next.  They greeted each other the best they could through their protective equipment.  Virus and Trip had full-face plaid gas masks, and Hersha and Welter had black and blue bandana masks with steampunk goggles around their eyes.  Hersha was a tall, lanky man.  He was an acquaintance of Virus’, and he tended to elongate his words in a sinister fashion, counter to Welter’s short and abrupt few words.  Welter was just as tall as Trip, and wore clothing similar to a Bloodborne Hunter.  In fact, pretty much all of them did.  If they didn’t look like steampunk warriors, they looked like Bloodborne Hunters.  They had to keep their clothing dark and concealable, while also protecting themselves from the virus.  Welter had long, mane-like black hair, whereas Hersha had a short half-shave.  Behind those four were the Morphine members in their black hoodies and plain attire and bandana masks.  Virus and Trip ushered everyone in.

                Mink, Tori, and the Scratch members were already there, with their masks off to the sides.  Mink had a pink beaded Silent Hill mask with teal steampunk goggles, counter to Tori’s pink respirator and white spiked goggles.  They were all settled around the various old fixtures, as the secret path used to be a sewer system into Platinum Jail.  They decided to remain in the ditches to remain hidden.  Soon enough, everyone else slowly filtered in.

                Koujaku, Beni, Mizuki, and the Benishigure were next to arrive.  Koujaku retained his red kimono, although he had to keep it rolled down to be able to move around freely and at a moment’s notice.  He had a deep red lotus flower respirator and dragon goggles.  Beni had a prayer-beaded red leather Silent Hill mask and red mesh goggles.  Mizuki kept his original clothes, but donned a black Hannibal mask with matching spiked and blood-splattered mesh goggles.  He looked quite intimidating, with his burgundy hair and dark skin.  The Benishigure members wore an assortment of red and white lotus flower attire and protection.  Beni openly voiced his annoyance at having been ripped from his nap, to which Koujaku slapped him upside his head with the blunt side of his great sword strapped to his back.  Mizuki kept an assault rifle on his back, while the Benishigure members kept Glock 27’s, as they were unused to bulky firearms, whereas the Scratch group kept AK-47s and assault rifles, stuff they were familiar with.

                Lastly, Noiz’s group Ruff Rabbit was last.  Noiz kept his green attire, but had to opt for a neon green tubed respirator with mecha-bunny-eared goggles.  Midori, Noiz’s odd acquaintance, kept a neon green bandana mask and green spiked cyber goggles.  Midori immediately piped up when he saw everyone else.

“P!  It’s great seeing everyone here!  Is Noiz happy?”  The small man turned to Noiz, who was removing his protection and shaking his strawberry blonde hair out.  Noiz’s lime-green eyes penetrated the deep black of Midori’s, giving him a “shut the hell up” look with his gaze.  Midori sighed and took off his protective equipment as well, shaking his inky black hair out and joining the rest in the sewer ditch.

“Noiz, we need you to look into tracing a message.”  Immediately, Mink caught the late Noiz up with what he was to do, as the others were already discussing things when the brat decided to show up late.  Again.  As he always did.  But regardless, he was a vital member to the team and a lot couldn’t be accomplished without the brat, so the rest put up with it.

“Tch.”  Aoba motioned Ren to send the message to Noiz, who brought up his hologram keyboard and screens from his coil and began the procedure.  While waiting the others conversed.

“I’m still working on a cure for this virus.  Virus, Trip, you think you two or Morphine could lend a hand?”  Clara looked towards the Morphine group for assistance.  She was a wiz with biomedical engineering and was currently in the process of attempting to find a cure for the zombie virus.  Virus and Trip looked at each other confused, but Hersha piped up.  
“I believe I maaay,” he always said things elongated and in singsong, which put everyone else off more than Noiz and his bratty antics.  He was about the same height as Virus, but acted nothing like his acquaintance.  The complete opposite, in fact.  Clara looked at the odd man and nodded.

“I need some decent zombie flesh, but it has to be from a newly-afflicted zombie, so as to retain some human qualities as well as containing the virus.  Think you can look into it?”  Hersha looked to Welter out of the corner of his eye.  The tall burly man looked in Hersha’s direction and nodded solemnly, confirming their agreement before walking off with Clara farther down the sewer ditch. 

Aoba looked towards the Benishigure members and headed over to Koujaku, who was arguing with his cousin Beni again.  The bright red-head was young, in his teens, but he was nimble, quick, agile, and perfect for fitting in small, tight spaces, so he was utilized for that, although he was still a bratty teen.  Not as bratty as Noiz, who was an  _adult brat_ , but still a teen brat.  Mizuki was staying far away from the family quarrel, and was instead by Mink.  
“Beni, for the 50th-time, you  _cannot_  sleep until noon every day.  What would happen if we were under attack and you were snoring like a fucking log?  Oh, Aoba!”  Koujaku’s expression went from angry to familiarly happy once he saw Aoba heading towards him.  Aoba wasn’t stupid and knew and could hear Koujaku lecturing Beni, so he decided to lecture him himself.

“Koujaku, you can’t keep arguing with your cousin.  The more you do, the more you push him away and we need him.  Everyone here is important.  We all want to live through this, but to do that we need to work together.  I know everyone here has had our differences in the past, but if we could all act like a  _team_ , maybe this would get done faster.”  Koujaku sighed at his childhood friend’s words, knowing they were true, but it was difficult trying to get along with people he wouldn’t normally be associated with.  He figured that was the bliss of being Aoba, able to get along with anyone and everyone and see the brighter side of things.  He ruffled Aoba’s hair, which had lost sensation long ago and Koujaku loved touching Aoba’s hair now that he could.  Aoba pouted at the man’s gesture when he heard Noiz click his tongue loudly.

“Something wrong, Noiz?”  Aoba made his way over to the green bunny-obsessed brat to check on him.  Mink and Tori heard Noiz’s tongue click as well, and made their way, along with Mizuki, to Aoba’s side behind Noiz’s screen.

“It seems that the message is hidden behind a screen of fake code.  I cracked it, but there’s nothing behind it.  It’s like the message never existed, or rather, the  _sender_ never existed.  It’s really weird.”  Aoba looked at Ren and motioned for him to come over.

“Aoba.”

“Ren, can you bring up the message on a hologram from your end, please?”

“Understood.”  Ren lifted his headband from his eyes and projected the message.  Noiz looked up at the blue screen and inspected it.  He connected his Coil to Ren’s neck and examined the message from the direct end, and this time, succeeded.

“As I thought.  He’s in the North District, seemingly near a junkyard…?”

“Master!  I know where that is!”  Clear piped up suddenly and made his way over to the group assembly.  Mink, Aoba, and Noiz looked to the ecstatic face of Clear who was hopping up and down and waving his arms around as he trotted over, as if he wasn’t being seen.

“Clear, how do you know where that is?”  Aoba couldn’t help but question the odd white-haired man.  Clear quickly took the hologram screen and pointed to the red triangle marker before exclaiming, “That’s where I lived with Grandfather!”

                The group was stunned silent.  Clear never really talked about where he used to live, and it seems Sei knew more than everyone else knew despite being by Toue all this time.

“Ehhhhh?  Why is everyone quiet?  I thought this was good news?”  Aoba could see Clear’s invisible ears droop and he walked over to pat the gas-masked man on his back and thanked him.  “I can take you all there if you’d like!”  Clear piped up once again and looked to Mink, who was the unofficial leader of the group.  Mizuki only chuckled lightly, earning him a light punch from Mink.

                As they exchanged glances, Noiz unconnected his Coil him Ren’s neck, causing Ren to rub the spot where he was connected.  “Hurt?”  Noiz asked in deadpan.  Red nodded slightly before closing the message screen and adjusting his headband.  Noiz just shrugged and reclined against the side of the sewer ditch.  Aoba and Mizuki called over Koujaku to join Mink, Clear, Noiz, and themselves in their next action.

“Clear never really talked about his past, you know.”  Everyone nodded, except Clear, who was busy talking with Beni excitedly about jellyfish or something to that effect.  Aoba had to go over and pull the snow-haired man away from the young red-head and remind him that they were looking for Sei, not jellyfish.

“But Master!  Jellyfish are in the sea!  Sei is in my old home with Grandfather!”  Aoba shook his head slightly, and reminded Clear to stay focused.  They were racing against time here.


	3. Clear's Past Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei appears to be in Clear's old home, and Mink, Tori, Scratch, Morphine, and Benishigure are on the offensive line to combat the zombies surrounding the house. Ren, being the only one capable of flying over the commotion, is sent in on the mission to locate Sei inside the house. Clara, Beni, Clear, Aoba, Noiz, Ruff Rabbit, Hersha, and Welter stay back on the junk tops surrounding the house to discuss Clara's plan. Noiz, Midori, and Ruff Rabbit aren't really equipped for battle, but maintain their position in the mass.

The crew replaced their protective equipment, shouldered and holstered their weapons, and assembled at the entrance to the sewers.

“Let’s go.”  Koujaku ushered for his group to go first.

“Yaaha!”  Mizuki was glad to be out and about again after being isolated in the Black Needle for so long.

“Aoba!” Ren’s call urged his master on.

Mink put out his pipe before pointing to the roofs to indicate their team to ascend.

“Go.” Noiz and his group ascended onto the roofs with Clear.

“Weeeeeeee~”

“Aoba-san!”

“A-o-ba!”  The Morphine gang wasn’t far behind, bringing up the rear, as being former Yakuza before the rest of the imbeciles got turned into zombies.

                With that, everyone was off the on the remaining rooftops and running behind the leading Clear, who had to maintain his inhuman speed for everyone to keep up with their human speeds.  Ren merely flew above the gang to keep an eye out for zombies and other threats.  The gangs’ footsteps made a beating drum sound across the roofs and ground, sounding like a herd coming through.  There was strength in numbers and decided this was the best course of action they could have taken rather than splitting up.

                It took about two hours for the entire mass to make it to the tops of the junk piles surrounding Clear’s old home.  Ren floated in front and stood with his arms out wide, motioning everyone to stop and remained quiet.  Aoba was the first to hear it: zombies.  A lot of them.  He hopped from his junk top and stood behind Clear to get a better view, as well as motioning the other leaders to join.  Their fears were confirmed: zombies were surrounding Clear’s old home.  It wasn’t anything extravagant, just a two-story disheveled little thing.  It could barely be called a home, but to Clear, it was something sentimental, and he became instantly angry at their inconsiderate treatment of his fond home.  Ren restrained Clear from diving headfirst into the zombie crowd and instead organized Scratch to assemble around the house with their heavy weaponry to whittle down the majority of them.

“After Scratch takes them down, Benishigure and Mizuki, you go in with your assault rifle, Glocks and swords and take down the remaining.  Try not to get bit, for fuck’s sake.  Noiz, your group remain here with Beni, Clara, Hersha, and Welter.  They need your assistance.  Virus, Trip, Morphine, you’ll go in with Benishigure.  Between your two groups, you should easily be able to take them down.  Ren, float your way over to the roof and see if you can get an eye on Sei.  Now let’s go.”  With nods, they assembled.

 

                Tori’s hair, despite bring bright pink, was easily concealed in a headwrap of black, but his beaded tresses still stuck out from the sides, but that wasn’t an issue.  He was the only one who rivalled Mink’s capability with a firearm, and between the two of them, they centered themselves between the two largest groups of zombies, while the other Scratch members assembled accordingly around them.  Mink held up two fingers skyward, waiting to give the signal until Morphine and Benishigure were in position.  When Koujaku tapped his sword three times consecutively, that was his signal he was ready.  Morphine tapped a tree four times, their ready signal.  Mink dropped his fingers down forward, and with that, gunshots rang out.

                Tori handled an AR 15 Rifle with ease, cutting through the center of a mass of bloody zombies off to the right side of the door, careful not to shoot the glass in case of Sei.  Mink handled an AK57 as well as Tori handled his AR 15 Rifle, and cut down the left side of the mass.  The zombies at the back slowly turned to the direction of the gunshots and slowly dragged their way over, groaning and moaning, limbs torn off, little skin left hanging and bones bare.  Some missing eyeballs, some missing teeth, all putrid and smelled heavily of death.  Tori’s gun was the first to pop empty, followed by Mink’s.  The remaining Scratch members with bullets who were the best shots remained firing until they were empty as well, ripped off limbs, splattering infected blood all over the front of Clear’s home.

“Red, now!”  Mink’s baritone voice ripped through the gunfire like booming thunder.

“Morphine, go!”  Koujaku yelled as he and his members confronted the straggling zombies from the back with Glocks, while Koujaku handled a pistol sword alongside his great sword.  Mizuki hopped around and shot off heads with his assault rifle, eager to be having so much fun.  He was even hopping on their heads and shooting.  Morphine used an assortment of machine pistols and FNH PS90s, splattering blood and guts from the very remaining bowels of the horde.

                Down below, Ren heard the gunfire and fighting, and made his way through the attic roof window, a small, circular window he could barely fit through after breaking it open.  As he slipped inside, he was immediately greeted with a whimper.

“Sei?”  Ren’s deep voice reverberated through the small space, but the whimpering stopped suddenly.  It was dark, despite it being midday, but due to the lack of windows, light couldn’t get in easily.  Ren searched around, constantly tripping and knocking over small objects that sounded like glass, until he heard a small, soft voice.  
“Ren.  I’m over here.”  Ren turned to the sound of the voice, and lifted his headband to shoot a beam of light towards the direction of the voice.  The soft blue light illuminated a gaunt, black-haired figure clad in a black studded fedora and skeleton leggings and gloves.  Ren made his way over to the man, and sat down on the bed next to him.

“Sei.”  His deep voice bounced off the walls, rattling the glass objects everywhere.

“Ren, I knew you would find me.  Is Aoba here?”  Sei’s soft voice contradicted the calamity outside of limbs tearing, guns firing, and yelling.  Ren took Sei in his arms and wrapped him in his cloak before walking over to the small window.  He examined it and knew he wouldn’t be able to fit both of them through, as he could barely fit his body through.  He figured his best bet would be to break through the entire wall and go out that way.  He turned his back to the wall and stepped a few feet away, causing Sei to look up at him in confusion.

“Keep your head down.”  Ren slammed his broad back into the side of the attic, effectively breaking through with wood splitting and splintering, causing the poor house to shake and tremble with the abuse.  Ren carried Sei off to Aoba, Noiz, Clear, and the rest on the junk tops.  As promised, as soon as Ren was seen leaving the house and Aoba shot off a fire marker with his grenade launcher into the reddening sky, Mink, Tori, Scratch, Morphine, and the Benishigure retreated back to the junk tops.  They left only a few zombies remaining, with many dismembered, bloody, gutted bodies lying around the blood-splattered house.  The metal sides were riddled with bullet holes, and although Mink and Tori tried their best not to damage Clear’s house to the best of their ability to keep to his wishes, their main objective was to survive.  A bullet-riddled house should be the least of their worries if it meant getting out of there alive.

Once the offenders were on the junk tops, everyone retreated back to Heibon, where they would try to fit everyone inside.  Going across rooftops again with capes fluttering and masks and goggles on, their thundering footsteps rose so much dust it was as if a sandstorm was blowing through Midorijima.


	4. Clara's Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fairly short chapter, apologies. Essentially, Sei informs Clara that the Kurushimimasu virus isn't your typical virus that can be eradicated simply, and Noiz has to help Clear with why.  
> Tae is badass. Baa-chan, go!

Everyone managed to fit inside Heibon, albeit a bit stuffedly.  Everyone was situated in the basement, the only room big enough to fit everyone.  Tae, Haga, the Kuniyashi siblings, and Yoshie go upstairs to give the group some needed space to discuss with Sei what was happening.

“So, what you’re saying is, the virus is fast-acting and is hard to stop?”  Sei nodded.  Clara laughed openly.  “Pah!  What virus nowadays isn’t fast-acting?  Just tell me the essentials of it and I’m sure I can find a way to eradicate it.”  Sei lowered his gentle black eyes to the ground.

“It’s not that easy.”  Clara, as well as everyone else, looked towards the frail man, waiting for an answer.  “The virus isn’t your typical virus.  It was created by the androids, the Alphas similar to Clear over there.  So, in essence, it’s very advanced and may not be as simple as a few tissue sample and vaccine fix, as you are proposing, Clara.”  Clara’s eyes lowered and she scratched the back of her neck, unsure of what to do or say.  Sei’s expression suddenly turned soft and he waved for Clear to come over.  “You’re very lucky to have Clear with you.  He may not be as advanced a model, but he shares similar brainwave activity as the Alphas.  He may be able to help you with your plans, Clara.”

“But, Sei-san, I know nothing of biomedical necessities!”  Clear waved his arms around frantically, nearly smacking Beni and Koujaku in the face in the process.

“I may be able to help with that,” Noiz stood up and walked nonchalantly over to Clear.  He motioned for Midori to hop over beside him.

“Noiz-san, what do you mean?  If I don’t know, I don’t know!”  Clear sounded as if he was about to burst into tears behind his gas mask, something Noiz couldn’t figure out why he never took the damn thing off.

“You may not know consciously, but  _subconsciously_  you may.  If I tweak your internal settings a bit, maybe I can release from trapped information regarding the Alphas’ brainwave function activities.”  Clear put his hands up to his face and shook his head from side to side frantically.  Noiz sighed audibly.  Aoba, seeing this wasn’t going to end well with how the brat took these kinds of things, decided to step in and take action.

“Clear.”

“Master?”  Clear perked up to Aoba’s voice calling his name.  Aoba came to sit down beside him on the floor and motioned for Sei to come over as well.

“Clear, Noiz knows what he’s doing.  We wouldn’t trust anyone else with your body.  Remember how he broke through several firewalls to find out where Toue had hid the remaining Alphas?”  Clear nodded.  “That took a lot of skill.  And you see how Ren is physically here as a human and not as the dark blue Japanese Spitz you remember him as?”  Clear nodded again, but mentioned he missed Ren’s fluffy body.  Ren remained stoic.  “I miss Ren’s fluffy body too, but the point is, Noiz knows what he’s doing.  If it was anyone else I wouldn’t allow it.  You have to trust him.  Yeah, he’s a big brat, but he’s not an idiot.”  Noiz clicked his tongue at the apparent insult and adjusted his tall black and green combat boots. 

“So, will you let him?”   Clear turned to Noiz and pointed a finger in his direction.

  
“Only if you’re nice to Midori-san from now on!”  Noiz groaned again, unsatisfied with a simple “ok” from this weird man.

“Tch, why should I?”  Noiz looked away from Clear and at the ceiling, unable to look anywhere else.

“Midori-san is a bright kid who deserves more praise from you!  He seems smart and from our interactions, and you’re always putting him down!  Noiz-san, be nice!”  Clear waggled his finger in Noiz’s direction, adamant of his request.  Noiz groaned again and said “Fine” and hopped off the box he was sitting on and made his way over to Clear.

“Noiz-san, w-w-what are you doing?”  Clear was unsure of Noiz’s intentions.  He was afraid he was going to do the procedure right now in front of everyone.

“Inspecting you.  Gotta figure out what tools I’ll need.”  Midori then bounced over beside Noiz and aided in the inspection.  Figuring it was too soon to break his “promise” to the weird gas mask guy, Noiz didn’t complain or scold the young man.  Midori, seemingly pleased by this, hummed quietly as they inspected Clear, lifting his arms or turning his head one way or another.  Clear giggled with every touch the entire time.  While Clear was being inspected, Aoba decided to talk with Sei, but right as he opened his mouth, a loud noise ripped through the atmosphere.

“GRANNY!”

“YOSHIE-SAN!”

As Aoba and Clara immediately bolted up the steps, a beam fell down and blocked off the path from the basement.  Mink and Tori climbed their way through the crowd and attempted to rip the beam away from the entrance, but to no avail.  Mink motioned for everyone but himself, Tori, Aoba and Clara to back away down the steps to stay down in the basement.  Aoba’s mind was racing when he began thinking of how Baa-chan was still upstairs, possibly defenseless at her age.  He could hear Clara’s screams and saw her ripping away at the wooden beam, much to Aoba’s despair.  Tori gently grasped Clara’s wrists and pulled her away from the blocked door, leading her back down into the basement.  Mizuki was next to try and pull Aoba off.

                Dust started filtering into the room, forcing everyone to put back on their protective gear.  Since everyone’s firearms were empty from the battle they just endured, no one had any way to move or blast away the broken beam.  Aoba’s grenade launcher was still upstairs and it wasn’t safe to use grenades or Molotov cocktails in such a small, heavily-populated space.  Upset with both himself and their circumstances, he began weeping silently and banged on the beam and debris blocking the door, frantically trying to remove it.

“Idiot grandson…” were words spoken from the other side of the debris when there was a rattle, a shake, and then a thunderous boom.  It shot right through everyone and the entire building, shaking the debris from the door and knocking the beam over.  Standing in front of the entrance was Tae, holding a bludgeon mace over her right shoulder with a disinterested expression on her face and a snort.  She had a yellow Silent Hill mask on and pink long spiked goggles over her eyes.

“Well?  You going to take care of them?”  She pointed her chin over her shoulder at the attempted blockade of tables Haga and the siblings had made, with Yoshie hurling Molotov cocktails over them and into the offending horde of zombies flooding the front of Heibon.


	5. A Disgruntled Noiz and a Happy Clear’s Enthusiasm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koujaku gets thrown into a wall, Tae is a badass, and Clear and Ren work together to get several people to Ruff Rabbit's hideout, in an unintentionally hilarious fashion.  
> A/N: I always imagined Ruff Rabbit's hideout to have a lot of open space, essentially an empty giant cement block with some long tables, plenty of pillows, cushions, pouf chairs, and a backroom filled with electronic supplies and tools. I imagined it was barely used, seeing as they were hackers and information brokers, and needing an actual "office space" wasn't necessary, but I felt having a base to gather was still essential for any team.

“It seems Toue isn’t as dumb as I had initially thought,” Sei was heard from the back of the group, causing everyone to turn around and look at the fragile man.  Sei suddenly took off his hat and pulled out a small chip.  “It seems he’s been tracking me.  I’m sorry.”

“’I’m sorry’!?  Is that all you can say!?  You’ve led a giant horde of zombies to our main base and all you can do is _apologize_!?”  Koujaku was furious, but not as furious as Aoba, who stormed over and grabbed his friend by the neck and tossed him into the nearest wall, causing Mizuki to barely bolt out of the way of the incoming bulky man.

“Don’t you dare yell at Sei!”  Koujaku, lifting his head from the rubble, looked at his childhood friend with confused, teary eyes.  He could see Aoba was so overwrought with emotion and Koujaku felt immediate regret for getting angry with Sei.  Aoba held him above anyone else at this point, so it made sense he’d snap at anyone, even his childhood friend.  Koujaku looked away, not even able to mutter an apology when Ren shot up above the crowd and called for Aoba.

“Aoba.  I’ll take Sei, Clear, Noiz, and Midori to the Ruff Rabbit hideout.  You and the rest make your way when you can.”

“Got it, Ren,” Aoba sighed heavily and helped Sei up, ignoring Koujaku still lying in the rubble of the wall.  Ren was able to pick up Noiz, Midori, and Sei, but when it came to Clear, the android was just too heavy, and he couldn’t fly.  He descended to the ground and thought of a way to get everyone where they needed to be safely.  This was when Clear decided to give his input.

“Ren-san, allow me to sit on your shoulders and I’ll hold Noiz-san and Midori-san and you can hold Sei-san!”  Ren cocked his head at the idea, but through his calculations wasn’t able to figure out how that much weight stacked straight up that way would help.  “Reeeen-saaaaan~  Let me show you!”  Clear quickly hefted Midori onto his shoulders, much to his delight, then walked over to Noiz.  Suspecting what was about to happen, began backing away and refusing, but Clear swiftly picked up the struggling Noiz bridal style, who was now yelling curses, and then hopped onto Ren’s shoulders.  Ren was surprised with how much Clear could carry and how he felt almost none of it on his shoulders.  He picked up Sei and they ascended through the skylight in the roof made specifically for Ren.

“Aoba, stay safe!”

“Aoba, your big brother will be fine.  Don’t rush to get to me.  Take your time!”

“P! WEEEEEE~”

“YOU MOTHERFUCKING HALF-ASS EXCUSE FOR A ROBOT I WILL LITERALLY PUNCH THE FUCKING SHIT OUT OF YOU—”

“Bye-bye, Aoba-san!”

                With that, Aoba watched the group ascend through the dust-covered sunset to the Ruff Rabbit hideout.  After waving goodbye one last time, Mizuki placed a hand on his shoulder and handed him his grenade launcher.  He was reminded of what he had to do while he was here if he wanted to get to Sei.  Once the dark-skinned man was sure Aoba was in the right state of mind to fight, he parted from him and tended to Koujaku, sulking in the wall.

“Koujaku, you can’t stay solemnly in the wall.  We have to fight.”  Through his soft voice, he could hear Koujaku’s silent sobs.  Mizuki took a gentle hand and gently rubbed the bandaged man’s back, causing him to flinch and look up.  Koujaku didn’t want to see Mizuki, but he couldn’t help but feel familiarity and mutual friendship, even if it was Aoba he wanted to see comforting him.  He understood what had to be done and got up, dusting himself off before placing his protective equipment on.  He adjusted his weaponry and looked towards Mink and the rest of the mass before nodding and turning to Mizuki, who looked straight at Mink and motioned they were all ready.  With all their protective equipment on, Mink led the assault while Clara, Hersha, and Welter remained in the basement until the siege was over, unused to fighting unless absolutely necessary.

 

                Aoba was stunned by Tae’s fighting ability at her age.  Even Haga, Yoshie, and the Kuniyashi siblings had their own fighting styles.  Tae preferred to fight tactically, using poison throwing knives and throwing stars to slice through her enemies with assassin-level aim and dexterity.  As she fought her way through the horde, she was starting to get farther and farther from the shop, much to Aoba’s dread.  When she was becoming more and more overwhelmed, she backed to the side of the building and took what was strapped to her back: a rocket launcher.

“GRANNY!”

“Idiot grandchild, get everyone back to the basement, this instant!  When you hear the explosion subside, run out and make your way to that rabbit hideout.  No questions!”  Tae’s familiar loud voice bellowed out over the commotion and rising dust.  Even Mink and Tori obeyed the old woman, gathering everyone and practically tossing them down the stairs.  Aoba fought madly trying to stay with his beloved Granny, but Mink grabbed him by his cape and hauled him downstairs and held in there, crying and flailing about.

“Idiot grandson…”  She shot the single rocket straight into the center of the horde, blasting apart limbs and guts alike, painting the dust-filled air red and saturating the dusty earth with blood, limbs, guts, eyeballs, remnants of what once was human.  Once the explosion and rumbling of the crumbling earth subsided, the pounding of the mass in the basement and into the open, blood and dust-drenched air.  Aoba glanced back at Tae, who was surrounded by Haga, Yoshie, and the three siblings.  He saw Haga turn around and give Aoba a thumbs-up as he ran by, much to Aoba’s relief.  Aoba was starting to slow down, so Koujaku grabbed him by the forearm and hefted him along.

 

_Back at Ruff Rabbit…._

“You do that again and I swear I will break you beyond repair,” Noiz threatened an ecstatic Clear, who merely glomped him from behind, knocking them both over.  “Get OFF OF ME!”  Midori couldn’t help but double over in laughter, and Ren had to stifle a chuckle.

“Noiz-saaaan~  You’re so mean~”

“That’s because you do so much weird shit!”  Noiz was flailing about and trying to get the heavy android off of him, but Clear stayed rooted on top of him until he stopped struggling, but Noiz didn’t seem to get that hint, as he kept trying to get away and flailed about.  Ren, unable to stand the scene anymore, padded over to the duo and gently lifted Clear off of Noiz and then wrapped an arm around Noiz before he could get away.

“We must work together.  This is no time for petty fighting.  Aoba needs us to work together if we want to overcome this epidemic.”

“Ren is right.  And it starts with Noiz being a little more compliant,” Sei’s soft voice followed Ren’s deep baritone.  Noiz clicked his tongue and looked around his barren base.  It was a large square building that was mostly empty except certain areas with clutters of desks, cords, wires, tools, and other various equipment.  He looked around at the desks coated with a thin layer of dust.  He sighed, unreadable thoughts going through his head before he turned his piercing green eyes to the group gathered around the entrance.

“Going to come in?”  Noiz offered in deadpan, pointing towards a collection of pillows, cushions, and pouf chairs dominating one corner of the room.  Midori took his place and landed on his back on a giant black and green pouf chair, cuddling into its soft cushion and stretching his tired limbs and removing his protective equipment and setting them beside him.  Ren padded over, followed by Sei.  Ren sat cross-legged on one of the small cushions, his cloak completely covering it and the floor around him, while Sei propped himself up against a few pillows against the back wall.  Clear hopped over and jumped onto a collection of pillows and rolled around, eliciting a groan from Noiz, who set about gathering the specific tools he’d need for the procedure.

                After a good half an hour of quiet conversation between the three, Noiz came back with a metal bin full of tools, wires, clips, keyboards, and other random items.  He motioned for everyone to get up and he gathered a collection of some of the pillows and cushions and laid them down in the shape of Clear’s body.  Once he was satisfied that Clear’s body would be protected from the cement floor, he pulled Clear over and ordered him to lie down on the assortment of cushions.  Clear hesitated.

“Noiz-san, will this hurt…?”  Clear fiddled with his gloved hands.  Noiz rolled his eyes and repeated for him to lie down, pointing his finger jaggedly at the cushions.  Clear sighed and lied down reluctantly.

“Now, time to get this procedure underway.   Midori, get over here—”

“Noiz-san, I told you to be nice~”  Noiz covered his eyes and groaned again before shutting down Clear.  He hooked up his Coil, along with several other wires, and booted up Clear’s system, bringing up many hologram screens and about four keyboards, and got to work.  While Noiz’s fingers danced along the keyboards and his eyes dashed across the many screens, Midori awaited his orders to grab tools and unlatch something here or there, or connect this to that, and so on.

*****

                It was another hour before the rest of the mass joined Noiz, Ren, Midori, Sei, and the unconscious Clear.  Aoba ran over to Ren and hugged him and Sei before checking on Clear’s current state, but was unexpectedly shooed away by Midori.  Ren and Sei walked over with Aoba to join Koujaku, Beni, Mizuki, and the rest of the Benishigure to converse.  Mink and Tori were with Clara, Virus, Trip, Hersha, and Welter, discussing possibilities of the virus, to which Sei was called over to explain more.  The Scratch, Ruff Rabbit, and Benishigure members didn’t converse too much apart from their inner groups, unlike their leaders who were forced into communication.  The Benishigure (influenced by Koujaku) to avoid the Scratch members, who in return avoided everyone else.  The Ruff Rabbit members, unused to so many strange people, attempted to converse with the Benishigure men, but only moderately succeeded when it came to appropriate topics, and ultimately, they talked about common things, such as food, women, and fond memories.  They based their trusts in their leaders to take care of their remaining numbers, and all could agree on that.


	6. Unwelcome Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically a reflection on the character's perspectives of the situation and/or personal struggles/conflicts.  
> "Then our God be damned."  
> \------------------------  
> EDIT: I have added Mizuki as consistently through the story as much as I could without going through and changing everything. I sort of forgot about poor Mizzy for the entire story until this chapter. Sorry for any inconsistencies and errors~

It took Noiz, Midori, and a few of the higher Ruff Rabbit members the entire night to finally break through Clear’s highly sophisticated and complicated code and finish the process of accomplishing what they needed.  When all was said and done, everyone was apparently already asleep, leaving Noiz to look at Clear’s sleeping body.  He looked almost peaceful.  Unable to feel pain, he felt envious of having Clear force his affection on him so much; having someone actually _care_ for him was something he didn’t want nor need. It was inefficient.  It was unnecessary.  He had to bide his time and eradicate the virus, then he could go back to living his peaceful life, maybe even going back to Germany to see if he could get some people to get his favorite pizza and pasta shop back up and running.  Life was _hell_ without it.  He was stuck eating whatever he could find or was given, and more often than not, it was something Tae or Clear made.  Usually simple dishes, commonly meals made from dried foods, like seaweed, fish, fruits, preserved meat, and so on.  He could _kill_ for a slice of cheddar bacon pizza right now.

                Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Sei sit beside him.  He rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, causing the young strawberry blonde to flinch.

“You’re still awake.  Don’t you want to sleep?”  Noiz shrugged off his hand, shrugged his shoulders, and got up to go to another end of the cushion pile.  What bugged him about Sei was that he was _just like Aoba_.  He was kind, considerate, although much more soft-spoken than Aoba, but you could definitely tell they were twins.  They shared common principles and qualities Noiz couldn’t understand, nor did he care to.  All he wanted was his normal life back, the one he had before this godforsaken virus spread and rotted the entire island.

                Mink and Tori made their way up to the roof of Noiz’s hideout to smoke.  Tori and Mink were brothers, sharing the same cinnamon skin tone, even cinnamon scent, and their builds were similar.  Tori had bright pink hair that was slightly spiked up, and he wore an eye patch over his left eye, with the sides of his hair and parts of the tresses underneath braided and beaded with teal and Native American wooden beads he and Mink handcrafted back home before moving to Midorijima.  The two brothers remained silent.   Mink was the older of the two, and he had long dark brown dreadlocks that turned red near the bottom.  He smoked a long ceremonial pipe, while Tori smoked cigars.  Both smelled heavily of cinnamon and tobacco.  Tori was the first to break the silence with his deep, baritone, yet gentle voice.

“What do you think of this?”  Mink only grunted his confusion.  Tori turned his one eye to his golden-eyed brother before continuing.  “ _This_.  All of this.  The outbreak, the situation we’re in, everything.”  Mink sighed and took a whiff from his pipe and breathed out a wisp of white smoke.

“I think this is all God’s plan.”  Mink’s voice was similar to Tori’s, except they didn’t share the same gentleness; Mink’s was more rough, bitter in a sense.  Tori couldn’t help but sigh before inhaling from his cigar and blowing out a puff of white smoke, then spoke.

“Then our God be damned.”

                Koujaku and Beni were trying to sleep after another argument, with Beni retreating to an adjoining room, cushions in hand.  He plopped them down next to a collection of boxes and metal bins and flung himself down onto them, mindful his head didn’t smack against the concrete.  He remembered to keep the room’s door open a crack, just to make sure he didn’t get locked in here.  After tossing and turning for a few minutes and with his back to the door, silent footsteps entered the storage room.  The tall figure quietly sat down next to the fiery red-head and waited patiently.  He knew he wasn’t sleeping.

“Beni.”  The deep gentle voice made Beni jump and squeak.  He thought it was Koujaku.  Instead, it was Ren.  His cape was draped over the young boy’s figure.  Beni couldn’t see his eyes due to the dark and the headband, but he could feel Ren’s golden gaze upon him, which made him tremble.  Ren always intimidated him, unlike his hotheaded cousin, Koujaku.  Ren was gentle and soft, but knew when to use his strength.  Koujaku only ever got angry and used his strength brutally and in forceful ways.

“Beni, talk to me.”  Ren spoke again, sensing Beni was lost in his thoughts.  Beni quietly pouted.

“Why should I?”  He tried to keep his high voice as quiet as possible, attempting to conceal his slight fear and intimidation.

“Beni, you can’t keep arguing with Koujaku.  He means well.  He’s only looking after you.  Koujaku always had this anger streak, but that can be explained.”

“Then explain,” Beni tried to hide his anger, and he sat up to stare in the direction of Ren’s passive concealed face.

“Have you ever wondered what happened to Koujaku’s parents and why he has so many scars?”  Beni was taken aback with Ren’s question.  Even though he was sure Ren couldn’t see him, he shook his head and much to his surprise, Ren spoke.

“Koujaku’s mother was killed.”  Beni’s eyes went wide.  He admired that Ren could maintain his tone and demeanor about such emotional topics.  He continued.  “Koujaku’s father was killed first, then his mother.  He loved his mother very much.  He only gets angry because he cares.  His tattoos and scars show his pain he’s concealed over the many years he’s been alive and what he’s had to endure.  He’s only looking out for you, but his anger isn’t one of neglect, it is one of passion.  He cares for you, his remaining family.  When he found out you were alive, his emotional status was complicated, but he was…ecstatic.”  Ren seemed to pause near the end, attempting to find the right word.  Beni continued to listen.  “To learn he still had family alive, it was his chance to rectify things from his past that he couldn’t control.  He had given up on family a long time ago, figuring they were all dead.  So, please, tell me your side.”  Beni remained silent, processing the information.

                Ren waited patiently.

“I always thought Koujackass was a hothead and didn’t care for a child.  I knew he was a woman’s man before the outbreak, and figured he wanted a girl around and took his frustrations out on me whenever I did anything he didn’t like.  I may be a kid still, but I’m 16 now.  Not really a young kid anymore.  I can take care of myself—”

“Not exactly.  But continue.”  Ren had to correct the young teen.  Beni ignored this, but secretly pouted at Ren’s interruption.

“…And, well, Koujaku is such a good fighter.  I want him to teach me how to wield his giant sword on his back, but he’s a leader of a fighting group and always seems to busy to tend to me.”

“Have you tried asking him?”  Beni wasn’t sure what Ren was implying at first.

“Well, no.  I said, he’s always busy.”

“Try asking him tomorrow.  Good night, Beni.”  And with that, Ren stood up, uncovering the now warm Beni, and left the room, mindful to keep the door cracked just as he had had it before he arrived.  Beni lied back down and attempted to process his thoughts and complicated emotions, as well as the conversation he just had with the intimidating man.

“Viiiiruuuus,” Hersha poked the sleeping Virus’ cheek, earning him a disapproving grunt from the latter.

“Go bug Welter, Hersha,” Virus didn’t want to be woken at this time, much to Hersha’s disapproval, but he complied with his acquaintance’s order anyway.  He stood up and made his way over to Welter.  He repeated his actions with Welter as he did with Virus.

“Weeeelterrrr….” Welter cracked open a vibrant blue eye to stare into the reflecting blue eye near him.  He shuffled slightly.

“Better be good.”  Welter was always a man of few words, much to Hersha’s amusement.  Despite this, he was a good listener regardless; what he lacked in speech he made up for in intelligence.

“What do you think of Claraaa?”  Welter sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes, his black hair a complete mess.  He was in no mood for smitten talk.

“Smart.”  Hersha hummed at Welter’s single word response.  Hersha had to agree with Welter on that.  The young woman was indeed smart, but a little stuck-up in personality.  But that’s what made her seemingly…attractive?  Hersha wasn’t sure of his feelings.  Yet.

They began discussing Clara’s biomedical engineering knowledge.

                Mizuki picked up a bottle of Koujaku’s sake he kept in the Black Needle and nudged Aoba awake.  He motioned for him to walk with him.  Mizuki led a very sleepy Aoba to an abandoned room with a wide bay window with a clear view of the desolate and barren wasteland they had to call home.  Aoba, rubbing sleep from his eyes, was thrusted a netted red bottle from Mizuki.  Aoba turned to the dark-skinned man and looked groggily into his sea-foam green eyes.

“Wha’s on your mind, Mizuki?”  Aoba let out an unconscious yawn.  The burgundy-haired man looked over the wasteland of their once beautiful island.

“What do you want to do once this is all over, Aoba?”  Aoba, starting to wake up, processed Mizuki’s words for a few minutes before answering.

“Go back home.”

“I’d like that.  What about the others?  What do you think will happen?”  Mizuki took a swig from the sake bottle Aoba was still holding.  Aoba pondered for a bit.

“Probably go back to their lives prior to the infection.  I think that’s what everyone wants to do.  This just feels like a nightmare, one that we aren’t waking up from, you know?”  Mizuki nodded and handed the bottle back to Aoba, who took a swig himself this time.  Mizuki was mindful to keep an eye on Aoba’s intake, as his alcohol tolerance was exceptionally low.

“What do you think about repopulation?  Like, not in a weird way, but what about the people remaining when this is over?  Do you think there will be help from the outside?”  Aoba hadn’t thought about outside help, since it’s been two whole years since the outbreak.  He figured everyone was avoiding them like the plague to keep the virus isolated to wipe them out and not the entire world.

“Mm, dunno.  Maybe we’ll all settle down with young women and start families?”  Both laughed at the statement.  Both knew they were wrong.


	7. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear gets his speech turned into nonsensical mush and Noiz is tormented by his own dealings with Theo and his parents. Ren, on the other hand, is sent off from the party in search of some leaves to aid in the eradication of the virus.

In the early morning, Noiz reactivated Clear.  The main leaders gathered around the strange man, and Aoba feverishly hoping for his safe return.  He clutched Clear’s gloved hand tightly.  It took a good 3 minutes until Clear opened his bright pink eyes and, after blinking a few times, looked around and sat up.  Aoba felt relieved, but only for a second.

“Where ist don hast?”  Noiz slapped a palm to his forehead.  It seems he fucked up his speech somewhere along the way.  How?  He did everything perfectly.

“Clear…?”

“Aoba-san!  Kunko du mich mitts!”  Aoba realized that even though Clear was conscious, he was speaking nonsense.  He glared daggers towards Noiz, who was already taking out the wires and tools with a slightly pink dusted face.  _Cute…_

“P!  Noiz, you seem to have messed up Clear’s speech algorithm!”  Now it was Noiz’s turn to glare daggers, but this time at Midori.  The young man got a smack upside the head and ordered to sit down beside him.

“Noiz-san!  Midori-san alcove der dam mucht!”

“Good _night_ , Clear.”  Noiz pressed Clear’s power button under the base of his head and put the nonsensical-speaking Clear back to sleep.  He smacked his forehead again out of annoyance of himself.  How the fuck did he fuck up so bad?  Where did he go wrong?  He then looked to Midori.

“Did _you_ do this, you little fuck?”  Midori looked up at Noiz’s piercing lime green eyes, noting the pure anger emanating from him.  He shook his heads fervently.

“I just did everything you asked, Noiz! P!”  
“Noiz, this is no time to argue with Midori!  Just fix Clear so he can speak properly!”  Aoba snapped at Noiz before the situation could escalate.  Noiz, still grumpy, put on headphones that resembled his goggles, and put on music as he got to work again.  Midori was teary-eyed and sulking.  Aoba patted the young man’s small back comfortingly, and he looked up and gave a small smile before Noiz snapped his fingers and pointed to a few tools and then to Clear, barking orders.

“Koujaku.”  The scarred man turned to the young red-head, surprised.

“Hm?”

“Can…you teach me to fight?  Like, with your big sword…”  Beni’s voice was small and Koujaku had to strain his ears to hear, but he chuckled lightly at the notion.  Beni, irritated with the lack of response, turned and glared at the ponytailed man.  Koujaku ruffled Beni’s hair, much to the young teen’s irritation.  “So…is that a yes?”  He grumbled.

“Yeah, it is.”  Koujaku beamed proudly at the sudden turn of the young tyrant.  They both walked up and made their way up to the roof to practice in peace and not disrupt the others.  Ren smiled silently.

 

                It took another hour when Noiz figured Clear was fixed.  He unplugged and unconnected everything and booted him back up.

“Clear..?”  Aoba was hesitant, waiting for Clear to start speaking nonsense again.

“Aoba-san!  What happened?”  Noiz gave a sigh of relief after removed his bunny eared headphones and rubbing a finger in his ear.  Midori gave an excited and gleeful yelp, much to Noiz’s dissatisfaction, and he gave the young man a rough push against the side of his head and knocked him over into the cushions.

“Clear, do you remember any knowledge?”  Aoba smiled awkwardly, waiting for Clear’s answer.

“Aoba-san, knowledge of what?”  Clear cocked his head to the side in question, and Aoba sighed audibly.

“Clear!  What can you tell us about the Kurushimimasu virus?  Anything?  Any processes or contaminants?”  Clara, upon hearing Clear’s voice, made her way away from Hersha and over to the reawakened Clear in hopes he could tell them something about the virus.

                Clear’s expression went blank for a second, very unlike his usual expression self.  His voice remained the same, but his words were different in tone and inflection.

“Kurushimimasu Virus.  Code A7-B09-7Z1.  Virus designed to eliminate healthy cells and infect them with the Kurushimimasu contaminant, a chemical reaction formed from chemicals found in the Polyvoregon leaves of Maradori.  When strained and allowed to soak in the sun for three months consistently, such as in Alaska during their time of 24-hour sunlight, the chemicals and germs in the leaves react to one another and when a drop of Hydrochloric acid is introduced, the reaction forms a contaminant that is highly toxic, highly acidic, and highly infectious.  It is said that this contaminant is still under experimentation and should be closely monitored when used in experiments.”

“What does it do and why sunlight?”  Clara needed more information.  Clear continued.

“The Polyvoregon leaves grow only in the dark, and the chemicals inside react negatively to sunlight.  When exposed to sunlight for too long, the leaves begin to, instead of dying, form counteragents to counteract the pollution of the sun.  Maradori is a tiny, limitedly-explored island off the Japanese coast, approximately 24-miles southeast of Midorijima.  When the toxin is exposed to human flesh and allowed into the human body, it destroys healthy cells and replaces them with an unknown undead toxin.  The effects include: decomposing, festering flesh, sickle-cell anemia, blindness or vision impairment, tooth decay, Alopecia, Osteopenia, Osteonecrosis of the jaw, and myocardial ischemia.”

“What can we do to cure this?”  There was a long pause from Clear before he spoke.

“Information unknown.”  Clara knew it couldn’t be that easy, but decided they had to do something, so she turned to Ren.  She always had a thing for Ren, although Ren never seemed to return her feelings.  She made her way over to the tall man.

“Ren, do you think you could track down some of those leeeeaves for us?”  Ren sighed heavily and looked towards Aoba, who had to cover his mouth to stifle his laughter.  It always amused him about how much he rejected Clara and how much Clara liked him.  Ren kept looking between Clara and Aoba, and finally, Aoba spoke.

“Ren, you think you can track down some of those Polyvorioni leaves?  Clear evidently said it’s 24 miles southeast of us.  Think you can track it down since you’re the only one who can fly?  We can give you some needed supplies and tools if you want in case the leaves are poisonous.”  Ren nodded.

“Understood.”  Clara frowned and pouted at Ren’s utter rejection of her.  The blonde crossed her arms and walked away, making Ren sigh with relief.  He interacted with Clear some more, took down some more information on the location of the island and the leaves, and got ready to depart.  Turns out the leaves aren’t poisonous until they react to the acid.  Mizuki retrieved some empty, clean alcohol bottles for Ren to place the leaves in, as well as their appropriate corks.  Clara lectured Ren on taking pictures and recording information about the environment and such.  After much lecturing and supply preparation, Ren headed off with a small sack tossed over his shoulder, filled with a variety of glass bottles (thanks to both Clear and Mizuki) and their respective corks, as well as some gloves in case for some reason the leaves had some effect upon Ren.  After bidding everyone goodbye, Ren reminded Aoba to make sure to stay on contact with him via Coil communication.  Aoba tried not to cry, but knew Ren was capable of taking care of himself.  When Ren ascended into the sky, Aoba turned to the rest of the mass and decided to find out more about Toue’s intention and current research on the leaves, through Clear’s new files.

                Koujaku and Beni were still on the roof training when Ren took off.  Worried that Ren was leaving alone meant something was happening downstairs, he grabbed Beni by the arm who was still grasping his sword and hauled him downstairs to the main mass.  At the main room, Aoba and the other leaders turned to a breathless Koujaku and Beni.

“And where have you been?”  Aoba eyed the two suspiciously.  Koujaku gave his best apologizing smile, while Beni merely beamed brightly and hefted Koujaku’s sword to rest on his shoulder.

“Koujaku’s been teaching me to use his sword!”  Aoba’s eyes softened at Beni’s words.  He was happy to see the two getting along.  Aoba looked around to try and find Noiz and noticed him missing.  He tried not to show it, and motioned for Koujaku and Beni to join Clear and the others in their research of his new files while he looked for Noiz, which, thankfully, no one else seemed to notice was missing.

                After ascending several levels, Aoba came across a room with a door cracked open.  He quietly made his way over and peeked in.  He saw Noiz sitting solemnly on a decrepit bed with his mecha-bunny-ear-headphones on his head.  Assuming he was listening to music, Aoba was about to open the door when he heard Noiz speak.

“Theo, I’m not sure what’s going to happen.  No one seems to care.  They’re only keeping me around for my intelligence.  All I want is my life back.  Is there really nothing Germany can do?”  Aoba couldn’t understand Noiz’s foreign tongue, but he recognized the name, Theo.  Noiz mentioned he had a younger brother named Theo, although he didn’t really talk about his family.  Noiz sighed audibly and lowered his head into his hands.  “No, I don’t want _‘Mom and Dad’_ involved.”  Aoba could hear the mocking in Noiz’s voice despite the different language.  Noiz sighed again and then pressed a button on the tip of one of the ears with an “Auf Wiedersehen, Theo” and he curled into a ball.  Aoba was unsure whether he should intervene or not, but he had a soft spot for the brat and decided to confront him.  He knocked gently on the door three times before starting to open the door.  He heard Noiz grumble.

“Noiz, everything all right…?”

“God has abandoned us.” Two voices spoke out from behind Aoba: a high-pitched one and a deep, gentle baritone.


	8. Process Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, sorry. Essentially, Midori and Tori are beginning to be affected by the now airborne virus, and Noiz, Virus, and Trip get motorcycles. Koujaku doesn't know how to ride a motorcycle. Poor Koujaku. Next chapter we check in on Ren.  
> \--------------------  
> This chapter is meant to be a segway into the virus affecting important people, hence why it's so short.

“Midori?  Tori?  What are you doing here?”  Aoba and Noiz turned at the two.  Tori’s one eye was glazed over and lifeless, as was Midori’s gentle black ones clouded over as if blind.  Noiz’s eyes went wide and he grabbed Aoba while covering his mouth, yelling for Aoba to do the same and broke out in a sprint down the stairs.  As soon as they reached the bottom, Noiz bellowed.

“Put on your protective equipment!  Now!”  Unusual for Noiz, everyone looked at the orders barked by the brat.  Mink snorted, causing Noiz to storm over to the dreadlocked man.

“Your fucking brother is starting to be affected!  Put on your masks and goggles now!  The virus is becoming airborne!  We need to GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!”  Upon hearing that, everyone’s attention was to Tori and Midori on the stairs, standing calmly and lifeless at the foot of the stairs after descending calmly.  Mink’s eyes betrayed emotion when he saw the state of his brother.

“Do as he says!” Mink bellowed out orders immediately, tears in his eyes threatening to fall.  Upon hearing Mink’s order, everyone put on their protective equipment and headed out of the hideout in a rush.  Mink, unable to leave his brother and the brat’s unusual friend, tazed both of them to unconsciousness and heaved them onto the back of his motorcycle and commanded everyone to go to follow him.

                Clear grabbed onto Aoba and carried him bridal style over rooftops in pursuit, while Mizuki got on his own motorcycle and sped after Mink.  The Benishigure, Morphine, Scratch, and remaining Ruff Rabbit members hauled ass behind their leaders at a breakneck speed.  Mink suddenly stopped everyone in front of one of the warehouses near Ruff Rabbit’s hideout.  He shot open the lock and opened the doors.

                Noiz smirked.

                Koujaku cringed.

                Beni cheered.

                Virus and Trip looked at each other excitedly.

“Hope you know how to drive.”

                The warehouse was full of motorcycles.  It seemed Mink kept some for his members in case of emergencies.  As to why it was near Ruff Rabbit’s hideout Mink had yet to explain, but there was no time for that, as the gurgling and groaning behind them was growing louder.  Noiz quickly climbed onto the nearest motorcycle and started it up and threw the machine into reverse and sped off in the lead.       Koujaku was unsure, as were the Benishigure members.  The Morphine members, however, hopped onto a motorcycle, with Virus, Trip, Hersha, Clara, and Welter, hopping onto their own, grabbing Benishigure members and throwing them behind them, as were the Scratch members.  Koujaku was stuck with being thrown onto the back of Trip’s motorcycle while Beni was thrown onto Virus’, much to Beni’s amusement and excitement and Koujaku’s utter mortification.  All the team members were scattered with one another, Benishigure with Morphine, Scratch with Ruff Rabbit, and everyone with everyone, all in a rush to get to safety with disregard to their differences.  The leaders sped off in the direction of Mink’s hideout at full force, only to have a horde come into view.

                Noiz cursed under his breath, but Koujaku found this useful.  “BENISHIGURE!  SWORDS OUT!”  Koujaku yelled his orders over the roar of the motorcycles churning up dust and blood-spattered dirt.  He held his own high above his head, as did the other Benishigure members, ready to cut down the offending horde.  Those without Benishigure members got out their own .500 Smith and Wesson Magnums, reserved for emergencies, and damn was this an emergency.

                Clear looked down from the rooftops with Aoba to see the motorcycles heading towards the horde of zombies approaching them.  “Aoba-san!  What should we do?”

“Heibon.”

 

                Mink, despite being the leader, was kept away from battle due to having the bodies of Midori and Tori, so he was kept surrounded and encased in the middle, causing Noiz, Virus with Koujaku, and Trip with Beni to take the lead. 

“Fuckin’ scumbags,” Noiz cursed.

“Noiz, ‘scumbags’ is my word.  Please do not take it.”  Virus hummed over the motorcycle roar.

“Heh, I guess the next thing he’ll take my ‘yo’, eh?”  Trip taunted.

“Shut the fuck up and cut them down!” Noiz hollered, gun ready.  Virus and Trip turned their attention back to the situation at hand and straightened up, cocking their guns with the Benishigure leader and cousin ready with their swords.

“DOWN!”  Mink hollered right as an explosion hit the center of the horde directly, scattering bodies everywhere, forcing the motorcycles to come to a screeching halt.  From the dust and blood came a small group of people, with a very short person in the front holding a rocket launcher.

“Let’s show these youngsters how it’s done.”


	9. Ren's Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Special appearance from the dark mind of H. P. Lovecraft himself.

Ren wasn’t one to get lost easily, so he managed to find the tiny island fairly quickly.  After descending onto its white-sand coast, Ren sent a message to Aoba to check in on him and decided to check on it in a bit, knowing he’ll be notified as soon as he gets it.  He noticed that it was practically dark, so he turned on his soft blue light and started to search about for the leaves.

                He looked under various rocks and fallen logs, behind small waterfalls and in trees.  Everywhere he seemed to look the leaves weren’t there.  He scratched his head, attempting to process the information, recollecting what Clear transmitted to him about its location.

“Under what is clear and bright, yet dark and murky.”  Ren scratched his head at the statement, but knew he couldn’t give up.  He made his way through the foliage when he noticed there were no animals on this island, not even insects.  Finding this peculiar, he looked around once again, back in trees, inside fallen logs, under rocks, around sources of water.  No animals.  Just foliage.  Deciding he was getting too side-tracked, he turned his attention back to finding the leaves.  He adjusted the small sack around his shoulder and continues walking.

                Soon enough, he makes it to the center of the island to a lagoon.  Ren looked into the limpid waters and then remembered what Clear said: “Under what is clear and bright, yet dark and murky.”  This lagoon, it’s clear and bright in the daylight, but at night it’s dark and quite hard to see through.  So where were the leaves?  _Under…_

                Ren set his small sack aside, removed his cloak, headband, and shoes.  He grabbed a corked bottle from the sack and, after he took one last glance at the surrounding land, he began emitting a beam of light from his eyes and jumped into the waters.

                The water was cold, to say the least.  It was _freezing_.  He endured the cold and made it all the way to the bottom.  He noticed there were no fish anywhere in the waters.  No crustaceans, no cephalopods, no mammals, just freezing, dark waters.  He swam for what felt like forever until his light finally descended and grew larger, meaning he hit the bottom.  Reaching the barren bottom, he landed softly, gently sending up sand beneath his bare feet.  He walked around on the bottom, looking for the leaves, corked bottle in hand.  He looked around to notice no rocks anywhere.  No river rocks, no bedrock.  This was such an odd lagoon.  No animals, no seemingly natural landscaping.  The bottom was flat and barren, his light extending endlessly into the depths, alone.

                After wandering and scanning for what felt like half an hour, Ren caught glimpse of something other than sand for the first time: something swaying off the edge of the lagoon bottom before it dropped into a seeming abyss.  He edged closer, noting that where the leaves resided, it just dropped off suddenly, leading to an empty chasm, a bottomless abyss.  As promised, Ren took photos of the leaves and the surrounding natural environment, if that’s what you could call it, before uncorking the bottle and beginning to pluck some of the leaves from the edge.

                As Ren was focused on the leaves, he didn’t notice the two giant piercing yellow eyes towering above him.  It wasn’t until he noticed tentacles surrounding him did he look up at the beast.  Countless tentacles and wings, spiked fore and hindlimbs.  Ren ripped leaves from the surrounding area and sped up through the waters as fast as he could.  He could feel the waters trembling and rippling around him, and soon enough, his Rhyme speed allowed him to reach the surface faster than the hand that he felt swipe under him.  He broke the surface with such strength that he rocketed out of the water and into a nearby palm tree.  He shook himself free and descended to grab the sack and his clothing before retreating a far distance from the lagoon and whatever resided underneath it.

                He turned off the beam of light from his eyes and shook himself dry like a dog before placing his clothing back on his body.  He settled the leaves into their respective bottles, corked them, then ascended to head back to Midorijima, hoping Aoba and the rest were surviving well enough.

                As Ren ascended, he flew over the lagoon.  He regretted looking down at the two piercing yellow eyes looking up at him from above countless tentacles on an octopus-like head.  He ascended higher until he was almost so high up he could barely breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> [1] "Afflicted" virus.


End file.
